Some advisors are reluctant to begin a charitable giving conversation with their client, concerned about making value judgments, especially if the client has not expressed charitable intentions. In reality, identifying your client's philanthropic interests is a wonderful way to deepen the client's trust and strengthen your relationship. This is also an opportunity to develop your relationship with future heirs. To determine your clients’ motivation for and knowledge of philanthropic giving, you might start with these questions.

What has been the most satisfying charitable gift you have ever made? Why?

Have you volunteered anywhere? Which volunteer experience has been the most rewarding?

Of your core values, which would you like to express through your giving?

When you think of the challenges facing our community, what are your greatest concerns? Are any of these the focus of your current or future giving?

What have you learned about your giving? Would you do anything differently if you could?

What role has philanthropy played in your family? Is it what you would like it to be…or would you like to change it? Are your children and grandchildren aware of your philanthropy?

What would you like to accomplish with your giving? Do you think this is possible?

The Mankato Area Foundation offers the maximum charitable tax advantages available by law. Because of the Community Foundation’s nature, it is not subject to the taxes and regulations affecting private foundations, and it has greater flexibility on matters such as minimum payout.

Philanthropy is a very special decision. As a professional advisor, you can help clients realize their charitable objectives by listening for charitable giving opportunities, explaining options, and suggesting solutions. Significant giving opportunities often arise when clients are making major business, personal and financial decisions. Our staff can work with you and your client to recommend the best charitable solution.

Professional advisors are often faced with a delicate dilemma: you want to discuss the many benefits of charitable giving with your clients, but you want to avoid recommending specific charitable causes or organizations.
Fortunately, the Mankato Area Foundation is a simple solution. A community foundation is a single, trusted vehicle your clients can use to address the issues they care about most while gaining maximum tax benefit under state and federal law. We offer a variety of giving options—including the ability to set up a charitable fund in your client’s name. It’s just one way we can help you help your clients achieve their charitable goals.

Your client has two great options for supporting their favorite charity—a Donor Advised Fund or a Designated Fund. A Donor Advised Fund gives individuals, families or businesses the opportunity to participate in grantmaking by recommending nonprofits and programs to receive grants. As with a supporting organization, a Community Foundation Donor Advisor can take advantage of information about local needs and opportunities--and even include his/her family or business in recommending grants. It is a simple, personal and highly effective way to give.

A Designated Fund provides funding for a specific nonprofit organization or purpose.

In both instances, the Mankato Area Foundation handles all of the administration, record keeping, and financial statements for the funds.

Yes, your client can name a successor or successors to the fund. If they do not name a successor, or after the successor’s death, the Mankato Area Foundation will continue to use the funds in accordance with your client’s wishes.

The Foundation’s fees are highly competitive with commercial gift funds, but even more importantly, the Mankato Area Foundation offers your clients unique value that can come from our staff’s knowledge of the community and expertise in the philanthropic field.

Opening a fund at the Mankato Area Foundation is considerably less expensive than starting a private foundation, since we handle all administrative details, including filing annual tax returns, performing due diligence on grants and all details associated with processing and tracking grants. There are also no setup fees.

Our role is to help donors create funds that carry out their charitable goals, be that in Kent or elsewhere. Community Foundation donors have the ability to recommend grants to organizations around the world.

When Ryan McKeown meets with clients at Wealth Enhancement in Mankato, he asks the questions that most other financial advisors ask about current cash flow, expected income and goals for retirement. But then he pops another question as well: How much do they want to be able to give away, even in retirement?
“If you want to be able to continue a certain level of charitable giving after you retire, you should be planning for that now,” McKeown says. “If you want to be able to fund your giving for another 20 years, then I might recommend a strategy like starting a donor-advised fund now.”

Share

Who We Are

Since 1974, the Mankato Area Foundation has been dedicated to building a community of individuals that believe in the strength of giving. We continue today to shape Greater Mankato through connecting acts of giving with our community’s needs.